Schaumburg candidate calls for end of driving stipends

Following a recent Daily Herald series, "Driving on Your Dime," Schaumburg mayoral candidate Brian Costin is calling on the village to change its monthly driving allowance for department heads to a per-mile reimbursement system.

But Mayor Al Larson and Village Manager Ken Fritz said the important part of the current monthly payments is that they're part of the mayor and department heads' total compensation packages, not that they're labeled for driving.

Both Larson and Fritz receive a monthly transportation allowance of $693 as part of their total compensation packages. Individual department heads receive an allowance of $495 a month, regardless of how much or how little driving their job requires.

"It's part of the compensation package and I'm not in favor of lowering people's compensation," Larson said.

Fritz acknowledged that there can be some confusion in associating the stipend strictly with driving, but that it's part of the overall package needed to attract the most talented people to work for the village.

If the driving allowance were ended in favor of a per-mile reimbursement system, Fritz said his recommendation would be to increase salaries to compensate.

Larson said the current system is better for taxpayers than paying higher salaries because the stipends don't increase the size of the employees' pensions.

Costin criticized the village for purporting to cut all unnecessary costs before it imposed a new property tax late last year, but retaining a monthly driving allowance for employees who in some cases hardly drive on the job.

"It's very emblematic that they didn't do the cost-cutting before," Costin said. "They should do it now. They absolutely should."

Costin also suggested that if Schaumburg is expected to compete for workers, potential employees should be competing for available jobs.

Costin said that when a number of qualified finalists are identified for a given job, these finalists should be asked who would be willing to do the job for the least amount of money.

Larson said he rejects this idea as much as he would reject the idea of reducing current employees' compensation.

"It's an auction?" Larson said. "You're going to auction the jobs off? I don't think you're going to attract the best and the brightest with that kind of process. That would be a horrible way to run a government, or even a business."

Costin said changing the village to the per-mile reimbursement system would be one of his priorities if elected mayor in the spring of 2011, but doesn't believe taxpayers should have to wait for a new administration to make the change. He said he would agree to retaining the current system for emergency workers on call 24 hours a day.